How to Paint With a Rake Brush
You may have heard about rake brushes without being exactly sure what they're for or how to use them. Rake brushes are specialty brushes that come in several sizes and shapes. Unlike some brushes, the bristles on rake brushes are cut at various lengths, making the brush useful for texture. These brushes are used for creating hair, fur, foliage such as grass and texture. You can use rake brushes for oil, acyclic, watercolor and other forms of painting.
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Instructions
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Dampen your rake brush with water. If you're using oils, skip this step.
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Dip it into the paint and load the brush by moving it in one direction, with -- not against -- the bristles. Turn it over and keep loading the brush with paint on the other side as well.
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Thin out the brush with a bit of water if you need to by using this same motion and mixing the water into the paint. If you're using oil paints, thin out the paint with an oil paint thinner.
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Push the brush into a paint-resistant flat surface, like a palette, so that the handle of the brush is perpendicular to the bristles. The bristles should be bent where they meet with the head of the brush. You want the bristles to fan out at about 180 degrees. This separates your bristles a bit.
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Pull the brush from the palette and test it by applying light pressure to the brush as you're painting. Light pressure will create more of a wispy effect while more pressure will create thicker brush strokes.
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Pull the brush in one direction, going with the bristles, on your painting to create hair, fur, grass or other textures. Don't move the paintbrush back and forth, but rather pick it up and move it in roughly the same direction as your other brush strokes for a fur or hair effect.
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Load up the brush with more paint as needed.
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Clean your brush with water and brush cleaner once you're done using it. Let the brush dry on a flat surface or with the end of the brush down. Don't store your brush with the bristles down as this will cause your bristles to bend and fray.
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References
- Photo Credit paint brush image by anna karwowska from Fotolia.com
